The 1960's FamilySimilar to the idea of the perfect marriage of the early 20th century which Zeena and Ethan failed so miserably- George and Martha fail the 1960's idea of the perfect family. Media such as Sitcoms Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best hammered into the American public head what a perfect family consisted of: two happily married parents with a money-earning, working father and a happy housewife caring for happy children. The balance of these established roles created a perfect family harmony. In fact, data shows that 65% of children in the year 1960 lived in a family like this, know as the "Leave it to Beaver ideal."
George and Martha, as well as Nick and Honey, fail to live up to this ideal American family. The housewife is not happy, the husband is not dominant and providing, and both couples cannot have, or fail to have, children. The pressure to meet this ideal is evident by Martha attempting to fill in the role of the dominant, providing, and successful husband which passive George leaves open. She "wears the pants ... because somebody has to!" Martha tries to 'fix' their broken marriage by filling the missing role; however, she merely abandons her role of the happy housewife in doing so and hates George for, as she sees, failing their perfect 1960's marriage. George is a "great big, fat flop" to Martha's desire to be happy in marriage, her desire to for George to come home from work and kiss her. She asks him "why won't you kiss me?" in an attempt to make George sympathize with this desire, but he is too much of a "flop" to notice. Additionally, her desire to have happy children is evident by her brining up of "the kid," their likely nonexistent son. George warns her "don't bring up the [son]" because he too is embarrassed by their failure to meet the social standard. He blames Martha's infertility for their failure to create a perfect family, informing Nick with obvious disdain, "my wife doesn't go up [get pregnant] at all." George and Martha blame each other for what both of them see as a failed marriage; neither of them believe in an atypical marriage. This perceived failure, resulting from societal propagations of a perfect family, accounts for a significant portion of their mutual hostility as well as the actual collapse of their marriage.
George and Martha, as well as Nick and Honey, fail to live up to this ideal American family. The housewife is not happy, the husband is not dominant and providing, and both couples cannot have, or fail to have, children. The pressure to meet this ideal is evident by Martha attempting to fill in the role of the dominant, providing, and successful husband which passive George leaves open. She "wears the pants ... because somebody has to!" Martha tries to 'fix' their broken marriage by filling the missing role; however, she merely abandons her role of the happy housewife in doing so and hates George for, as she sees, failing their perfect 1960's marriage. George is a "great big, fat flop" to Martha's desire to be happy in marriage, her desire to for George to come home from work and kiss her. She asks him "why won't you kiss me?" in an attempt to make George sympathize with this desire, but he is too much of a "flop" to notice. Additionally, her desire to have happy children is evident by her brining up of "the kid," their likely nonexistent son. George warns her "don't bring up the [son]" because he too is embarrassed by their failure to meet the social standard. He blames Martha's infertility for their failure to create a perfect family, informing Nick with obvious disdain, "my wife doesn't go up [get pregnant] at all." George and Martha blame each other for what both of them see as a failed marriage; neither of them believe in an atypical marriage. This perceived failure, resulting from societal propagations of a perfect family, accounts for a significant portion of their mutual hostility as well as the actual collapse of their marriage.